


Albus Potter and The Secrets of The Lost Library

by JaneDoe1920



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Family Secrets, Friendship, Gen, Gryffindor, Harry Potter Next Generation, Hogwarts, Hufflepuff, Mystery, Next Generation, Not Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, Ravenclaw, Slytherin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26229085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneDoe1920/pseuds/JaneDoe1920
Summary: Albus Potter doesn’t know that his father found and protected the Philosopher’s Stone in his first year. Albus Potter doesn't know that his father killed a basilisk when he was twelve years old. Albus Potter doesn't know that his family fought in a war.Albus Potter doesn't know that his father defeated the most powerful dark wizard of all time.What Albus knows is that his first year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry is starting, and he is terrified!Though one thing is for certain: New friends, strange teachers, and an abundance of mysteries await!
Kudos: 5





	1. The Hogwarts Express

Albus crept through the corridors of the train. He had followed his cousins to a compartment near the back of the train, and after being told, explicitly he didn’t have the option of sitting with his brother and his friends, was forced to sit with the rest of his cousins and their friends, the majority of whom were girls. There was nothing wrong with his cousins, Albus just didn’t care about ‘What witch wore what’, and ‘Who broke up with who over the summer’. And after about an hour he had had enough. So here he was walking along the once crowded corridor, filled with the excitement of another school term, seeing friends who hadn’t been seen all summer, and the basic hijinx that came with having many children grouped together. Now the students had all settled into compartments, and the halls were empty. This left Albus alone with just his thoughts for company. And his anxieties found this a perfect time to creep back into his head. The same anxiety that had been plaguing him almost all summer. Slytherin. Slytherin. Slytherin. Albus’ stomach churned, the hair at the nape of his neck stood on end, and shivers racked through his body. Albus had heard so many tales of the horrible things witches and wizards of Slytherin house had done. He had heard his family members’ stories of dark magic, and had even overheard conversations between his parents about all the dark witches and wizards his father had caught in his work as an Auror. And of course James didn’t help with all his stories about the Slytherins when he came home for the holidays. ‘ I won’t be in Slytherin.’ Albus told himself in an attempt to shake the bad thoughts from his head. ‘ I won’t be.’ ‘ I don’t know…’ said a voice in his head, sounding suspiciously like his brother ‘ You have that look about you.’ ‘ What look?’ Thought Albus. “The slytherin, look.” Spoke the voice, louder this time. Albus nearly screamed as he felt hands upon him. Spinning around he found his actual brother, standing there already wearing his school robes- although haphazardly- and for some reason his tie was around his auburn head, laughing at him. “That wasn’t funny, James!” Albus yelled, breathing heavily from the scare. “It was pretty funny to me!” laughed James, A huge grin spreading on his face. James took a lot after their mother’s side of their family. Both in looks and in his propensity for mischief. Albus groaned. His fright had changed to irritation. Whether that irritation was aimed at his brother for using his distracted state to scare him, or at himself for realising he had been thinking aloud this entire time, he didn't know. “What are you even doing here? I thought you were with your friends?” “I was,” James stated, rolling his eyes a bit, “but then Rose showed up looking for you, and well you know how Rose is. Somehow she convinced me to go looking for you, and well here we are.” “And you obviously took it as an opportunity to torment me.” Drawled out Albus, narrowing his eyes. “Well, Yeah!” Said James, cheerily. Albus rolled his eyes. “Well, you found me, so...Now what?” James appeared to give this some thought, lifting his hand to his chin as if he was stroking an imaginary beard. Finally, grinning and raising his arms in the air, Proclaiming “I don’t know.” Now it was Albus's turn to roll his eyes. “Well when you figure it out, let me know.” He turned to walk away when James called out “Wait!” “What now?” Groaned Albus. “What are you doing?” “I’m standing in a train corridor, waiting for my specky git of a brother to leave me alone.” “No… I meant why.” James seemed slightly less of his cheery self, and more thoughtful as if Albus wandering around the train by himself genuinely concerned him. Albus sighed, “I just got tired of all the girl talk. What, do you want me to go back, or something?” “No. You probably shouldn’t either. Rose didn't exactly look happy earlier.” He explained. “But you may want to find a compartment. It's not really a good idea to walk around by yourself. If a prefect sees you they might think you’re up to something. And you don’t want to lose points before you actually get to school. You wouldn’t be well liked in Slytherin if you did that.” Albus glowered at him. “Go away, James.” “ Ok.” and as he turned to head back to his friends he called back, “Remember: find a compartment, before a prefect finds you.” Albus sighed loudly. James usually knew a lot about these things, he’d been in trouble so many times in his first year that his parents had even made a bet over how many detentions he would get in his second. So he went on the hunt to find a compartment for himself. There was no way he was going back to his cousins’ compartment. No doubt Rose would be there waiting to lecture him for running off. So far however he hadn’t been very successful in his quest almost every compartment was bursting full of students, and Albus was absolutely not subjecting himself to the awkward situation of introducing himself to a bunch of strangers, and the awkward conversations to follow. He had almost given up, almost resigned himself to having to go back and face Rose and one of her annoying lectures, when he finally found an almost empty compartment, where only one boy, with pale skin, and paler hair, who looked to be around his age, sat reading. Albus figured he could manage talking to one person, so he knocked politely on the glass door and quietly slid it open. “Umm… Excuse me is it alright if I sit in here?” The boy without even looking up from his book answered Albus in a bored tone. “No.” Albus felt inexplicably vexed at this. Here he was with no compartment, and here was this boy with a compartment all to himself. At this point Albus was not going to go back and face Rose, so there was only one other option. Albus pushed the door further open, marched in and sat down on the seat across from the other boy. He could see the other boy roll his eyes over the top of his book, but otherwise no other communication was made. This continued for quite awhile. The boy continued to read his book with apt attention, meanwhile Albus stared out the window counting the trees as they passed. Trying his hardest to ignore unwanted thoughts from popping up in his head. He had reached around 2,o37 when there was a knock and the compartment door slid open. An elderly witch stuck her head in. “Anything from the trolley, Dears?” Albus quickly stood and headed toward the trolley witch and from the corner of his eye he noticed that the other boy had put down his book and was waiting patiently for his turn to buy sweets. When his arms were loaded with enough chocolate frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, and cauldron cakes as he could carry he carefully walked back toward his seat setting his candies in the seat next to him. He started on the chocolate frogs, The card was useless to him as he already had many of it. The other boy had sat down in his seat munching on a liquorice wand while resuming where he left off in his book. Albus was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the silence. The only thing that could be heard in the whole compartment was their chewing, the pages of the boy’s book turning, and the sounds of the train. He was growing bored and less focused on his tree counting. He figured he had counted 2133, at least seven times now. He figured he could talk with the boy, even if he wasn’t sure he would talk back. Although he figured it wouldn’t hurt to try. “So…” Albus started, hesitantly. “Are you excited about the school year?” he hoped his tone conveyed friendliness, though he never was sure about it. “Hmmm.” hummed the boy in a tone that Albus couldn’t tell was agreement or otherwise. Deciding to try again, Albus chose another topic. “Is that a good book?” Again the boy answered in a way that Albus couldn’t distinguish as good or bad. Albus was starting to become discouraged. He never had been good with talking to strangers, and had never had much practice with it either. He decided he should give it one last try. He needed to think though. What did people enjoy talking about? He knew his parents liked to discuss the Ministry with the rest of the adults in his family, but he often found that boring, and figured so would this boy. Rose almost always talked about books, but given how his last enquiry went, Albus didn’t think that would work again. His earlier experience told him that his cousins only talked about dumb things, like clothes. So that left only… James had lots of friends. And he was generally liked by almost everyone. However, Albus had heard what he talked about with his friends before, it was almost always about getting into trouble or… Quidditch! “Do you… Do you like quidditch?” Albus questioned timidly. The other boy was in the middle of turning a page when he visibly froze. Lifting his head from his book he turned his eyes on Albus for the first time “What did you say?”his tone incredulous, almost scathing. Albus thought he had upset him so, feeling a little less brave, he stuttered. “Do… Do you like Quid-”But he was interrupted. “It was a rhetorical question.” he stated, his grey eyes giving Albus an intense look. “Of course I like quidditch! What wizard in his right mind doesn’t?” “Oh.” said Albus with renewed confidence, happy that he had gotten a response.“What’s your favorite team? Mine are the Holyhead Harpies.” “Don’t really have one.” Said the boy, making it sound like it wasn’t a big deal, though, Albus noticed, the slight frown on his face made it seem otherwise. “I rather prefer playing the game to watching them. Do you play? I’ve been playing almost my whole life. Mother and Father said I knew how to fly a broom before I even knew how to walk.” He boasted. “I do play,” Albus admitted. “Though not as well as my older brother. And not even close to as well as my parents.” Albus continued “My mum even played professionally, my dad used to take my brother and sister and I to her games when we were little. Now she works for the Daily Prophet. She writes the sports page.” “What about your dad?” Asked the boy “What does he do?” Albus hesitated. He knew that the boy was just being polite, trying to keep the conversation going, but the problem was that Albus wasn’t supposed to talk about his father's job with strangers. His parents had told him and his siblings that it was important that they not talk about their father's job at the Ministry unless it was with another member of their family. Albus really didn’t know why this was, but Albus didn’t really know about a lot of things when it came to his father. Wherever they went people seemed to stare at them whether their father was there or not. There were even people who would randomly come up and shake his father's hand, or his mother’s, or his aunts and uncles. One time a wizard even shook James and his hand while they were looking at broom kits. Going on and on about how much they looked like their father, Albus especially. And if that wasn’t strange the fact that they knew all their names definitely was. Whenever he asked about why people always knew who they were he was always given a different answer, just like what his uncle had done back at the platform. Albus wasn’t stupid. He knew that whatever reason his family was famous for, it wasn’t something small. And for some reason his father was in the middle of it. He just didn’t know why. “He works at the ministry.” Albus said vaguely, before the other boy could question further Albus quickly questioned him. “What about your parents, what do they do?” “They don’t work.” said the boy “They don’t need to. Our family vault has enough gold in it to keep the next ten generations of our family living comfortably. And that's without even adding to it too.” Albus was amazed at that. He had gone with his father to their own vault at Gringotts when they went shopping for their school supplies. He saw with his own eyes the piles of gold, silver, and bronze stashed away deep underground, but he doubted that it was enough to keep the next ten generations of his family living comfortably without working. “What's your name?” the boy asked. The question made Albus realise he never asked for his name either. “I’m Albus.” He held out his hand. “Scorpius.” He said as he shook Albus’ hand. Albus thought he recognized the name, but couldn’t think of where he had heard it, till he remembered what his uncle had said before they got onto the train. This was the boy who his uncle told Rose to beat in every class. Albus wasn’t sure why he had said that. “So,” Scorpius started. “What house do you think you’ll be sorted into?” Albus felt his insides squeeze together, he had been doing so well keeping his anxiety in check, but now he felt it crawling back into his head. “Oh... Umm, I don’t know.” He said, hoping to end the topic there. Scorpius thought differently. “I’m going to be in Slytherin.” He said smugly. Albus was shocked. He wanted to be in Slytherin? “Why?” Albus questioned, just a little too loud. Scorpius seemed to take offense to that. “Well why not?” he questioned back with a glare. “It's a good house.” “Well… Umm… It's just,” Albus stuttered, afraid he’d really offended Scorpius. “I mean, It just doesn’t have a very good reputation.” “It has an undeserved reputation.” Scorpius said, calmly. “Trust me. Both my parents and Grandparents were in Slytherin, and they’re the greatest people I know!” Albus wasn't sure what to think about that. “Don’t worry about all those rumors, Albus. Rumors aren't based in a lot of truth.” Comforted Scorpius. “Besides, if I’m going into Slytherin then how bad can it really be?” The train ride continued with pleasant conversation. Albus and Scorpius discussed Quidditch almost in its entirety: Who were the best teams, which teams had the best players, what were the best brooms, what position was best. Albus learned that although Scorpius' father had taught him how to play seeker, he actually preferred the position of chaser. Later the two of them shared Albus’ box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans, and enjoyed daring each other to eat every gross one they came across. Albus almost gave up when he came across one that he thought was earwax, but a dare from Scorpius left Albus pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be toffee. Scorpius however was unfortunate enough to get one that reminded him of snot, and the game was soon over after that. They then went on to chocolate frogs, trading the cards that both already had for ones that they didn’t. While Scorpius had gone through all of his, Albus decided to save some for the school year. Neither noticed the darkness growing outside, and Albus was having so much fun that his anxiety was almost non-existent. The two had just torn into Scorpius’ packet of blowing gum, that when blown filled their compartment with bright pink, blue and green bubbles, when the compartment door slid open and a bright-red, bushy haired head, freckled faced, and buck toothed girl stood in the opening, as bubbles floated towards her. As she beat them back from her with her hand she finally made eye contact with Albus. Rose. “There you are!” She half shouted, putting her fists on her hips as she glared at him. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Meanwhile, Scropius was giving Albus a look that said “Who is she?” Albus didn’t have time to answer before Rose spoke again. “I can’t believe you would choose to sit with a stranger over your own cousin! So much for ‘Family Loyalty” Albus cast Scorpius a look that said “Have you figured it out yet?” Scorpius in turn gave Ablus a look of understanding. “You’re being over-dramatic, Rose.” “Over dramatic? Over Dramatic? You left me all alone on a train full of strangers, and NOW YOU’RE CALLING ME OVER DRAMATIC?” Albus just sat there letting Rose go through her rant, before responding in kind. “I didn’t leave you alone on a train full of strangers, you were sitting with the rest of our family.” “Yes but they’re not eleven! They’re not starting their first year at Hogwarts! They aren’t supposed to be going through this very unique experience with me!” She paused, as if to let Albus have his say, but before he could even apologize she started again “Who are you even sitting with?” She questioned while turning towards Scorpius, who was in the middle of blowing a giant pink bubble. He let it float away so he could answer her, but before the words even made it to his tongue she answered her own question. “Nevermind, It's just Scorpius.” She turned back to Albus, as Scorpius muttered “Well that’s not creepy at all.” under his breath. “Now,” She started “ You may have noticed, and I doubt you have, but it's gotten dark out, which means the train will be arriving soon, so you better get back to Victoire’s compartment and get your robes.” Albus ignored her jab and just glared at her “Thanks.” He said in a tone that said he wasn’t thankful at all. Albus was waiting for Rose to leave the compartment, but Scorpius seemed to have a different Idea. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Scorpius.” He held out his hand to Rose, but Rose just looked at it. “Rose Weasley.” She spoke, while her body language said that she was rather against Scorpius’ offer for a handshake. “Like the joke shop Weasley, or the witch who's running for Minister of Magic?” He questioned. “Both.” Responded Rose as she headed to the door, but not without giving Albus another glare, slamming the compartment door shut as she walked out into the corridor. “Well she certainly has character.” Drawled Scorpius. Albus snorted. “You got lucky. That wasn’t nearly as bad as when we lost our family quidditch game last Christmas. She yelled at me for almost half an hour. Our gran had to threaten to put her in the attic with the ghoul before she stopped.” Scorpius laughed. Albus stood from his seat heading to the door. Thanks to Rose he now knew how late it was and he really did need to put on his school robes. “Where are you going?” asked Scorpius, with a raised brow. Albus sighed. “As much as I don’t want to admit it, Rose is right, so I have to go get my robes from my cousins’ compartment. You should probably change too.” Scorpius just shrugged. “See you later.” he called out as Albus left the compartment. “See you.” Albus called over his shoulder, closing the door behind him. As Albus walked the corridors to the back of the train he felt his stomach start to twist again. Though Scorpius’ words were now joining his brother's and his family’s in his head, he couldn’t help but still feel panic at the thought of being sorted into Slytherin. And with once again being surrounded with the quiet empty corridor he couldn’t stop the bad thoughts from coming to him. What would everyone think if he was sorted into Slytherin. Would they all just assume he was a dark wizard? Would his family turn their backs on him? What would his parents think? Or James? Or Lily? Would they be disappointed if he was in any other house, but Gryffindor? Albus’ thoughts made him dread the coming judgement later on in the night. Though one thing did make him feel a little better: No matter what house he was placed in, He was sure he would have a true friend when the term started.


	2. The Hogwarts Express

After grabbing his robes and wand from his cousin’s compartment, Albus returned to Scorpius’ compartment and found him fully dressed with his school robes fashioned meticulously unlike the messy way Albus had put his on as he was walking through the train corridor. His cousins didn’t let him stay in the compartment to change so he left his school slacks in his trunk, while pulling everything else on top of the muggle clothes he was wearing, hoping that no one would notice his muggle pants and shoes underneath his robes. The two boys settled into pleasant conversation for the rest of the ride. Less than half an hour later and Albus could feel the train slowing down as it pulled into Hogsmeade Station. As soon as they had stopped every compartment door flew open, and student’s from every year started to crowd into the abandoned corridor. Albus followed Scorpius through the throng of students and off the train. With hair as pale as his it was easy to do so. Once out of the train both he and Scorpius were at a loss at what to do, that was until Albus heard a booming voice. “Firs’ years o’er here. Firs’ years this way.” Albus grabbed Scorpius’ sleeve and dragged him to where a giant of a man was directing other students in their year. “Hi, Hagrid!” Albus called up to him, smiling wide. The giant returned it with his own giant smile. “Hell-o ther, Albus.” He spoke with cheer. “Just saw yer cousin. You just missed her boat.” “That's okay, Hagrid.” Albus felt relieved. He’d sooner jump in the lake than share a boat with Rose right now. “Whose this ya got with ya?” Hagrid asked, turning his beady eyes on Scorpius. Scorpius was too shocked to say anything in response, so Albus did it for him. “This is my new friend, Scorpius. We met on the train.” “Nice ta meet ya, Scorpius.” beamed Hagrid. “You too.” Mumbled out Scorpius. Hagrid chuckled. “You two better get to a boat, ‘fore you get left behind. “Ok!” Said Albus as he and Scorpius broke out into a run toward the docks “See you later, Hagrid!” he called over his shoulder. Albus and Scorpius Boarded a boat that had two other boys in it, one who looked extremely bored and the other who looked as scared as Albus felt. Once in the boat Scorpius seemed to have found his voice again. “Who was that? How do you know him?” “Who? Hagrid?” Scorpius shook his head yes. “That’s Hagrid, he’s a family friend. He’s also been at the school almost as long as my grandparents have been alive.” “What does he do?” Questioned Scorpius. “A lot of things.” Said Albus. “He’s the Grounds Keeper, and the professor for Care of Magical Creatures.” Just then, Hagrid called out . With a lurch the boats simultaneously lurched forward. The boat ride across the lake was everything a boat ride across a dark lake at night could be: Exhilarating and terribly horrifying. Albus didn’t have a fear of water, but being barely able to tell the difference from where the lake ended and the sky began left Albus feeling off, as he gripped the side of the boat. And he wasn’t the only one. The scared boy Albus had noticed before was trembling and every lurch of the water seemed to make him jump. At one point there seemed to be a dark spot right beside their boat and Albus couldn’t tell if his eyes were playing tricks on him. The scared boy however seemed to have seen it too, and almost tipped the boat over in his panic, only for a long limb to shoot out of the water and steady the boat. Albus let out a short shout as he felt the limb pass his arm on the way back into the water, and the scared boy almost passed out, if the other boy in the boat, the really bored one hadn’t pinched his arm. Soon however the castle came into view, and the sight was so magnificent that Albus and even the scared boy seemed to forget their fear. Albus had grown up hearing stories about the notorious castle, first from his parents, then from James. They had cemented an image of the beautiful castle into his head, but none of his visions held a candle to the sight before him. The granite castle stood tall against the inky sky, Its walls shining white, reflecting the low hanging moon. The waters of the lake below were so still they reflected the castle so clearly it was like there was a twin that lurked beneath the dark lake. It was only when the boats passed above that the perfect image below was disturbed. The boats soon docked and Hagrid led them to a set of doors. “Wait ‘ere while I get the deputy headmaster.” he ordered, Albus noticed he had a little twinkle in his eye. The longer they waited, the more Albus’ anxieties mounted. It wouldn’t be long now before the sorting, and after that the next seven years of Albus’ life would begin. The voices of his family, his parents, his aunts and uncles, his brother, and even Scorpius were playing through his head, each repeating all the things he’d previously heard, His families stories conflicted with everything Scorpius had told him, he didn’t know who to believe. He wanted to believe Scorpius, that Slytherin house had an undeserved reputation, and at the same time he didn’t want to believe all the stories he had been told, especially the things James had to say regarding Albus and Slytherin. Maybe Albus wouldn’t have been as anxious for the sorting as he was if it wasn’t for the fact his entire summer had been filled by James’ teasing. It had started just a week after James had come back from his second year at school. It had been a week filled with stories ranging from his favorite classes to his worst, from all the mayhem he had caused, and all the trouble he had gotten in because of it. His perhaps favorite subject to boast about was how many fights he got into with the Slytherin students. On this particular day, their family was all together at his grandparents’ home. And he, James, and a bunch of their cousins were playing quidditch. Usually Albus stayed out of most games with his cousins, they usually made fun of his lack of talent at flying a broom. In this instance they needed one more player, and Albus somehow found himself joining. Albus suspected that because of how bad he usually was was the reason they had made him play seeker for his team, which was made up of its usual unbalance, talent wise. James and Fred were really good at quidditch and Teddy, who had played Keeper for his house team at school, was on their team as well. The best player Albus had was Rose, who was a fairly decent chaser. Albus wasn’t really sure what made him do it, maybe his cousins jeering at him had set him off more than usual, but he was determined to win this game. Maybe that's why when he and his brother were in pursuit of the snitch Albus rammed him in the side with his elbow, then poked him in the eye, right before he caught the snitch. All in all even though his team had won the game, the whole group had a huge fight, and Teddy had to go get Albus’ dad to settle it. The game ultimately was broken up, with his dad acting as referee and declaring that neither side had won. But the damage had been done. After that James had started his constant torment of Albus, Making sure to tell him he’d be sorted into Slytherin, every chance he got. Even his parents couldn’t stop him for long, he'd just do it behind their back. Albus didn't know what to do. Did he trust the word of his family? Or the word of the first friend he had ever made? Just then he felt an elbow to the ribs. He looked over to see Scorpius standing next to him. “Did you hear what I was saying, Albus?” he looked a little annoyed, as if he wasn’t used to not being heard. “No, sorry.” Albus apologized. “I was lost in thought.” Scorpius brushed it off “That's alright.” He started. “I was just wondering if you knew why people are staring at you?” Albus turned on the spot to look around him. Sure enough there were students, discreetly, and even more not so, looking at him and whispering to those around him. “No idea.” He said curtly. It was weird to him for grown ups to know who he was, it was even weirder for kids his own age to stare at him too. “It’s okay.” Said Scorpius, a strange look on his face. “People stare at me too, and I don’t know why either.” “It's just so weird!” Exclaimed Albus under his breath. “It is.” Agreed Scorpius Just then the giant doors opened, and a man in scarlet robes stepped out in front of them. Albus recognized this man from many family dinners. Nevil Longbottom was an old friend of his parents, as well as Albus' godfather. He knew he was a professor, but he was surprised to find out he was deputy headmaster, as well. Nevil Spotted him in the crowd of students and gave him a wave. Albus waved back timidly. “Welcome to Hogwarts, Students!” Nevil called out energetically. “I am Professor Longbottom! If you will all follow me, please.” Albus walked beside Scorpius, although he could almost swear his legs were moving on their own. He could once again feel his stomach churning, his heart , beating faster than he’d ever known, felt like it was in his throat. Trying to keep his thoughts anywhere but the sorting was extremely hard as all the other students buzzed with the excitement of the upcoming ceremony. Nevil stopped in front of an even larger pair of doors. “Now,” He started giving a large smile to all. “Before we begin, I have some things to explain. These doors before you lead into the great hall, where your future classmates are waiting patiently for you to be sorted into your houses. There are four houses, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. For the seven years that you attend Hogwarts your house will be your family. Follow the rules, and your house will gain points. Break the rules and your house will lose points. At the end of every year the house with the most points will be awarded the House Cup. Now are there any questions?” Among the crowd there were murmurs and whispers, as students contemplated what they could ask their new professor. In a rush many students shouted out their questions, which ranged from questions about the ceremony, classes, and whether they would have to perform magic in order to be sorted. From the back a loud boy shouted “When can we eat?” which was laughed at by almost everyone, and even earned a small chuckle from Nevil. “All in good time.” He said with a smile. “And no, you will not need to do any magic for the sorting. Why don’t we head inside? First, I will ask you to organize yourselves into two even lines.” Albus found himself standing in front of Scorpius in the middle of one of the lines. Once Nevil decided the lines were organized enough he opened the giant doors As the two lines moved into the great hall gasps could be heard from all the first years, Albus among them. He could not keep his eyes on one place for long from the long tables filled with students and empty gold plates, to the table at the head of the room where all the teachers sat, to the bewitched ceiling mirroring the inky sky, and bright shining stars above. Nevil disappeared through a door on the side of the staff table, and returned moments later with a three legged stool and an old frayed hat. Albus, unlike many others, knew what this hat was. The sorting hat. Suddenly, Albus’ nerves returned to him in full. He was so nervous he was trembling in place. Nevil placed the stool in front of the staff table, and sat the hat on top. If the others in the line were confused they weren’t for long, a large tear opened up on the hat, and it began to sing: Oh I may be patched and frayed. But my resolve has never been swayed You’ll find in time You’ll come to see That you belong where I put you to be! You may belong in _HUFFLEPUFF_! Where hard work is valued most! Just and Loyal _HUFFLEPUFFS_ will never leave their posts! You may belong in _GRYFFINDOR_! Where bravery is best! In chivalrous _GRYFFINDOR_ valor knows no rest! You may belong in RAVENCLAW! Where brains are valued more than brawn! _RAVENCLAWS_ will always know a queen can be a pawn! You may belong in _SLYTHERIN_! Where ambition is not bound! In _SLYTHERIN_ your true self will be found! So come one and all Put your faith in me I promise you Your future’s safe with me! When the hat finished, Nevil pulled out a scroll of parchment, and called out to the first years. “When I call your name, please step forward and I will place the hat on your head. Agnethe, Dina!” Albus watched as a tall girl walked forward, took a seat on the stool, and Nevil set the hat on her head. A moment later the hat bellowed, “ _GRYFFINDOR_!” Applause filled the hall, but the loudest came from the farthest table on the right. It was filled with hooting and shouting and a few older students yelling out “FIRST!” The applause quieted as Nevil called out the next name on the list. “Cadogan, Myron!” A small skinny boy walked up to the stool, sat down and a moment later the hat called out once more. “ _SLYTHERIN!_ ” Albus swore he heard a few ‘boos’ echoing around three of the four tables, one more than the others, but it was drowned out by the explosion of applause from the Slytherin table on the far end left of the hall. And on it went. Carran, Elly became the first Hufflepuff, followed by Caryl, Barclay, and Chip, Kristen. Darragh, Noah became the second Slytherin, after which Edie, Rian became the second Gryffindor. Soon after, Elna, Micha became the first Ravenclaw. Gertie, Gaianna and Gimmle, Jonah both became Gryffindors. Goddot, Lisa became a Hufflepuff, while Guilbert, Francine became a Ravenclaw. After that Ianthe, Isadora became the first Slytherin girl. With each student sorted the list became shorter and shorter, and that meant Albus was closer to being called up. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited about it. He was absolutely ecstatic! But his fear wouldn’t leave him. At this point he was repeating his father's words over and over ‘The hat takes your choice into account.’ Albus was so lost within his own mind, that he almost missed Nevil calling out “Malfoy, Scorpius!” There was murmuring and whispers echoing through the great hall, a few glares his direction from older students, and even a few teachers, as Scorpius moved past. Albus even spotted a small frown on Nevil's face, as Scorpius walked up to him. As he was sitting down he gave Albus a smug smile and a thumbs up, before the hat slid over his eyes. There was silence for a minute before the hat once again bellowed out: “ _SLYTHERIN!_ ” Applause came from the Slytherin table and almost completely drowned out the more noticeable ‘boos’ that Scorpius got as he made his way over to his new house mates. Albus thought this wasn’t right. He knew that Slytherin didn’t have a good reputation, but he didn’t think Scorpius deserved such a reaction. The sorting continued onward. Albus heard Olwyn, Melinda get sorted into Slytherin, and then Nevil Started calling out the P’s Albus’ heart once again was speeding, his chest restricting and making him feel like he couldn’t breath. He was so out of it he swore he almost fainted when Nevil called “Potter, Albus!” If Albus thought the whispers in the entrance hall were bothersome, then the loud murmurs and fingers not-so-discreetly pointing at him as he stumbled toward Nevil and the hat, were just downright rude! He looked over at Scorpius at Slytherin table, who gave him another thumbs up, then over to Gryffindor table, where James and his cousin Fred were making faint hissing noises at him. At the staff table Hagrid was looking at him with a huge smile, trying to be encouraging. As he sat down on the stool he looked up at Nevil who gave him a reassuring smile, before placing the overlarge hat over his head. Albus saw nothing but darkness as he sat there waiting for something to happen. His stomach was still churning and he had the urge to tap his feet against the legs of the stool. “ _Not very patient are you, Potter?_ ” Albus felt himself flinch, he forgot the hat was supposed to talk to him. “ _You seem to be preoccupied._ ” Observed the hat. Albus thought that was a polite way to put it. “ _Right you are._ ” Answered the hat. Albus really wanted to get this over with, where was the hat going to put him? “ _Where indeed_?” Whispered the hat “ _Unlike your brother, I don’t think you would do very well in Gryffindor_.” Albus felt like his blood had turned to ice. So the hat thought he was a coward. “ _Oh no, you definitely have courage, lots of it. I don’t think I’ve met a Potter yet who didn’t._ ” Assured the hat. “ _But you don’t value boldness, you view it more as impulsiveness. Unlike your brother you hesitate, acting with caution._ ” Albus didn’t really have anything to say to that. James tended to not think out his actions, and it got him into a lot of trouble. “ _Indeed_.” said the hat. Albus began to wonder, If not Gryffindor where would he be sorted? Hufflepuff? Ravenclaw? Or… “ _Hmm._ ” hummed the hat deep in thought “ _I can see you are clever, and not afraid of hard work… But, I just can't see you succeeding in either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff._ ” Albus’ breath caught. That just left- “ _Slytherin_.” Answered the hat. “ _Yes, like your father before you, I think you will do well in Slytherin_.” Albus was stunned silent. His father told him that the hat wanted to put him in Slytherin, but that he asked to be placed elsewhere. “ _Yes. He was quite adamant._ ” Admitted the hat. “ _However I think you are better suited to the house than even he was._ ” Albus didn’t know what to think about this. What about all those dark wizards that came from slytherin. “ _Yes it is quite unfortunate. There are those who use their affinity for greatness for dark purposes. But know this, Albus Potter, for as many that have chosen darkness, just as many have chosen light._ ” Albus thought, and thought, and thought. He thought till his head spun. Finally Albus had to ask ‘If I asked you to put me in Gryffindor, you wouldn’t do it would you?’ _“No._ ” Said the hat. “ _I would not._ ” ‘Why?’ he wondered. “ _Because I know it is not where you belong, and so do you. It's all here in your head._ ” Albus wasn’t sure, but he thought he could hear voices rising in the great hall. He hoped he wasn’t taking too long. “ _Don’t worry, others have taken longer than you._ ” Reassured the hat. Albus thought that he should really hurry up, but he needed to be sure. ‘Will being sorted into Slytherin turn me into a dark wizard?’ “ _Do you want to become a dark wizard?_ ” ‘No.’ “ _Then it won’t_.” Then before Albus could ask anymore questions the hat asked “ _What do YOU want, Albus Potter?_ ” Albus thought about this for a minute. When he thought about it he didn't really want to be bold , or cause trouble like James. He didn’t really want to learn everything there was to learn about magic, or be known as just a hard worker. So what did he want? He thought about his family, about how people always seemed to know who they were, and then he thought about the train, where he met Scorpius, who was the only person he had met who didn’t stare at him, or whisper around him, who knew what it was like to be stared at for no reason, and was the first friend he had really ever made. Albus knew. ‘I want to go with my friend.’ “ _Very well_.” “ _SLYTHERIN!_ ”


	3. Late Night Introductions

Albus stood and removed the sorting hat from his head. The first thing he saw was the great applause of the Slytherin table, and the complete absence of it from the other three. After handing the hat to a stunned Neville, Albus hurried over to Slytherin table taking a seat beside Scorpius and shaking hands with everyone around him.  
“Welcome to Slytherin, Albus!” Scorpius told him, a huge grin spreading across his face. “I told you it wasn’t so bad.” Albus gave him a small grin back.  
The rest of the sorting continued uneventfully. Rowan, Maddelyn, and Smith, Haggith were the last to be sorted to Slytherin and joined them at the table. Albus made sure to applaud every time the hat sorted a new student. All the while making sure to avoid looking at his brother, who undoubtedly would be gloating in Albus’ direction. Albus made sure to clap extra loudly when Rose was sorted into Gryffindor.  
The sorting ended when Yezekael, Ifiok, the bored boy from Albus’ boat, was sorted into Gryffindor. Afterwards Neville put the stool and hat away, and the headmistress stood.  
“Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts!” spoke Professor McGonagall. “With the sorting ceremony finished let us enjoy the start of the term feast.”  
The plates in front of Albus suddenly filled with mountains of food, and the great hall was filled with the sounds of hungry students scrambling to fill their empty stomachs. Albus took some steak and kidney pie and some pudding, and ate while chatting pleasantly with Scorpius and the other students around him.  
“What took you so long, Potter? Were you and the hat trying to write a novel?” Joked a second year student, getting a chuckle out of the students surrounding him, and making the top of Albus’ ears turn red. “Lots of people take a while.” he mumbled out while keeping his eyes on his plate.  
“Most people don’t take more than a minute.” Scorpius told him “You were under the hat for over four minutes. It was unsettling some of the other first years. One of the older students at the Gryffindor table was telling anyone who asked that the hat was eating your brain.” Albus didn’t need to guess who said that. It was definitely something James would say.  
As dinner continued into dessert conversation became less and less as the combination of a long day and a full stomach took its effect. Students became more tired, some even nodding off at the tables. The headmistress took this as a sign to end the feast and stood to address the students once more. As the golden plates began to disappear before them, many students' attention changed to the long table in front of them.  
“Now that the feast has come to a close, before you head to your dormitories I have a few words to give each and every one of you. Firstly, the forest at the edge of the grounds is forbidden. I do not want to hear of any of you putting your selves or others in danger by entering the forest for any reason. Secondly, first years are reminded that it is forbidden for them to have brooms on school grounds, until they have completed their flying lessons, and have been evaluated by a teacher. And thirdly, I want to hear no more of fighting in the halls. We will not have a repeat of last year. The four houses are meant to live together in peace, and I will not tolerate any more feuding between them. Any students caught committing such acts will be severely disciplined.” Albus noticed she was giving a pointed look at James, who in turn was giving her a huge grin, trying to portray his innocence. Albus noticed that professor McGonagall didn’t look convinced. “I will tell our first years that you will face many challenges throughout your years at Hogwarts, as I am sure your older classmates can tell you. And I will tell our seventh years that the same is true for the world outside these walls. But know this: It is not our struggles that builds our character, but how we solve them. I am sure that you all will achieve great things.”  
“ Now off to bed! First years please follow your prefects to your dormitories.”  
The great hall suddenly erupted in the sounds of rushing students. Albus followed Scorpius towards two older students with golden badges on their chests. “Follow us, please.” Spoke an older girl as she turned away from them. The group of first years followed them towards a giant hall filled with portraits and staircases that moved, there were groups of students climbing them, so Albus figured that at least one dormitory was up there.  
The Slytherin first years were led to a set of doors that when opened showed a staircase that led down into the dungeons of the school. Albus suddenly dreaded the idea of going to bed tonight. Thoughts of the Slytherin dorms full of chains, and students forced to sleep in them entered his head. The dark dinginess of the hall wasn’t helping his thoughts either, and it appeared he wasn’t the only one. The other students around him whispered their worries to each other, all except Scorpius. He seemed to have no problem whatsoever with the darkened halls.  
“Pay attention!” Ordered the older girl to the whispering students, as she and her co-prefect led them through what appeared to be a stone labyrinth. Albus watched as they walked through the stone corridor. It seemed pretty straight forward, as long as you kept moving you would get to the common room. Though he supposed that the dark corridors and the fact they all looked the same would definitely confuse some people.  
Finally after stumbling along, the first years were led down a long hall where the prefects stood conferring with each other in front of a large stone wall. This confused quite a few of the first year students as worried whispers broke out among them, Albus included.  
“Are we lost?” He whispered to Scorpius.  
“No.” Scorpius whispered back “This is the door, my father told me about the dormitory over the summer.” Albus gave it some thought, and decided to trust Scorpius’ words. Of course a school for magic would definitely have magic doors!  
“Listen up!” Called the older boy. “ We’re about to give the password, so you better listen because we are not repeating it!”  
All the first years shut up at once, Albus thought some weren’t even breathing.  
“Viper.” Spoke the older girl.  
Not a second had passed when the word left her lips as two silver snakes appeared on the wall, their bodies entwined, slithering around each other until a great stone door appeared. The two silver snakes’ emerald eyes shone down upon their group, and Albus had the dreaded feeling that they were being judged.  
Whatever their judgement was didn’t seem to impede their entrance, for a moment later the ornate stone door parted and they were given the first glimpse of their common room.  
Albus's first impression was that the room was extravagant and very green. Large circular stone pillars stood on a platform that looked over the initial common room, beyond them he could see a large ornate stone fireplace with long black and green couches in front of it, and a long table between them. The walls were covered in long tapestries of witches and wizards, who Albus assumed held some significance to the house. In the back of the long room there was a large round table surrounded by carved wooden chairs and above that were three tall windows that looked out into the lake. This seemed to add a greenish tint to the lighting as it mixed with the large green lamps that hung on chains from the ceiling, giving the room a sort of ominous look.  
Further exploration of the common room would have to wait as Albus and the other first year boys found themselves being led down another set of stairs by the older boy. At the bottom of the stairs was a long corridor with seven doors, spaced out a great distance from each other. The prefect boy led them to the first door in the hall.  
“This is the first year dormitory. Your belongings are already inside. Good night.” he then walked down the hall and up the stone stairs, as they stared after him.  
Sharing a look with each other they shrugged their shoulders and walked in, deciding to forget about the prefect and his bad attitude.  
The dormitory was dark, the only source of light came from the large windows that looked into the lake, and strange green flames in the fireplace in the corner of the large rounded room. Directly across the fire five four poster beds were placed between the large windows. The beds were made of a dark wood, each with identical dark green bedspreads and emerald curtains, with a trunk in front of each. Next to the fireplace was a solitary desk and chair, and the windows all had seats made of a similar colored fabric as the beds.  
Albus quickly found his trunk at the last bed, and was happy to notice that Scorpius’ bed was the next one. He kicked his shoes off, and flung himself across his bed.  
He must have not realized how tired he was because he woke up with a pillow in his face.  
“At least put on your pajamas.” he heard Scorpius say.  
Albus sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked at his new dorm mates and saw they were all sitting on their beds in their pajamas. “Hurry up, Albus! We’re doing introductions!” Albus groaned. “Can’t we do them in the morning?” Now that he had been woken up he realized how tired he really was.  
“Nope!” Albus groaned again. He bent over his bed and began to dig around his trunk for his pajamas. Upon retrieving them he pulled his curtains around his bed so he could change, glaring at a smugly smiling Scorpius. When he pulled the curtains back again he was wearing his blue pajamas still glaring at his friend.  
“Now that we're all here we can begin, I’ll go first. I'm Scorpius Malfoy.” Albus decided to get under his covers. “I’m a huge quidditch fan, and a great player! I’m going to try out for the House team first chance I get!” Scorpius continued, a huge, slightly less smug, grin spread across his face. Albus noted the other three boys' small nods, as if agreeing that this was a good aspiration for an eleven year old boy to have.  
The small dark haired boy Albus saw at the sorting decided to go next. “I’m Myron.” he started quietly. “Myron Cadogan. I don’t know much about quidditch, my parents wouldn’t let me play. I do know a lot about charms though. My mother tutored me a lot and charms were the spells she could do the best.” all the boys nodded, even Albus as he tried to stifle a yawn.  
The next boy to speak had very blond hair. It wasn’t light like Scorpius’, instead it was fairly yellow, reached his shoulders, and was very curly. “My name’s Kallias.” He said sheepishly. “Well actually it’s Ailill, Kallias is my surname. I-I haven't been in Britain long. My father is an ambassador, so we traveled a lot. I was born in Britain though! That's why I’m here at Hogwarts! My dad was in Slytherin too, so I bet he’ll be happy when I tell him I’m here too.”  
“What countries have you been to?” Asked one boy. Albus wasn’t sure if he had heard his name yet. He doubted he would remember any of this tomorrow.  
“Mostly I’ve been to Greece, and Italy. My dad often had to visit Eastern Asia for his job as well, but I wasn’t allowed to go, so my mum and I would go traveling to places like Germany or Switzerland.”  
“Wow!” Exclaimed Scorpius. “That must have been great! I’ve always read about the wizarding communities in those places, but I've never been able to go. Mother and Father said that we could travel the continent after I’m done with school, but that's so far from now! You have to tell me all about it sometime!” Albus didn’t know if he was just tired, but he thought that something about Scorpius’ tone of voice was just a bit too chipper. Kallias just nodded shyly.  
Then there was the last boy. Albus realized that the reason he didn’t know his name yet was because he hadn’t given it.  
“I’m Darragh. Just Darragh. I don’t tell people my first name till they’ve earned it.” He said all this with a stern look and a scowl.  
“Didn’t Professor Longbottom say your name was Noah?” Scorpius questioned him, though Albus figured he didn’t need an answer. Noah or ‘Daragh’ looked like he had just sucked on a lemon, his scowl deepening “Well that doesn’t mean you get to call me that! It’s Daragh or nothing!” He folded his arms across his chest, maybe to make himself look tougher.  
“Okay, Nothing.” Scorpius replied, looking him in the eyes with a huge smirk. Daragh just growled and turned away from him.  
And that was the end of introductions, or so Albus thought.  
“Well this has been fun,” He said “I’m going to sleep now, Good night.” He pulled his curtains closed and rolled onto his side, ready to sink into the dark abyss of sleep ,only to be interrupted once more.  
“Wait, Albus.” Scorpius’ voice floated through the curtains. “You haven’t introduced yourself yet.” Albus groaned  
“Do I have to?” He almost whined.  
“Well it's only polite.” Albus didn’t really feel like being polite, but figured the sooner he got this over with the sooner he could get to sleep. “Fine.” he sighed and pulled back his curtains.  
“My name’s Albus, and I really like sleeping. I think I’m going to head that way now. Good night!” He reached up to close his curtains again but was hit in the face again by Scorpius’ pillow.  
“Come on, Albus! Give us a proper introduction. Tell us who you are!” Scorpius exclaimed, Albus groaned once more.  
“There’s nothing to tell!” He exclaimed.  
“Oh come off it!” Spoke up Darragh. "You’re Albus Potter!”  
“So?”  
“So, Harry Potter’s your dad!” The other two boys, Cadogan and Kallias nodded in agreement, as if this meant Albus had to be the most interesting person in the world!  
“What does that have to do with anything! My dad’s Harry Potter, doesn’t have anything to do with me, so why do people keep asking?” Albus was getting angry, partly due to being tired, but even more so because once again people were telling him they knew more about him than he did!  
Luckily for Albus, or maybe Darragh, Scorpius seemed to pick up on how fast Albus’ mood was turning. “Why don’t we put it to rest here? We have the next seven years to get to know one another. No reason to do it overnight.” His words seemed to convince Cadogan and Kallias. Why couldn’t they have done that earlier? Thought Albus. They said their good nights and closed the curtains of their beds. Darragh however seemed a little reluctant to let go of the topic, but relented and said good night while glaring at Albus, closing the curtain so he was out of sight. Scorpius looked over at Albus. “Sorry,” He whispered looking less confident than he had all night. “I didn’t think you’d really be bothered.” Albus sighed.  
“It’s fine. I’m just really tired.” He went to close his curtains once again, hopefully for the last time that night.  
“I’ll remember not to wake you up from now on.” Scorpius told him “ You're kind of scary when you’re tired.” he joked. Albus rolled his eyes. “Good night, Scorpius.” finally able to close his curtains  
“Good night, Albus.”  
Albus rolled over on his side letting the dark wash over him, giving himself over to sleep. He had had an eventful day and all that had happened seemed to flock to the front of his brain. He had boarded the train for his first year at Hogwarts, made his first friend, been sorted into Slytherin, and had ended the day getting mad at his new dorm mates.  
What a great start.


End file.
